PREP YEAR IN REVIEW: Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year Eric Smith of Alton

Sectional trip, 27 wins earn Smith honor

Greg Shashack, gshashack@civitasmedia.com

Published
9:37 am CDT, Friday, July 24, 2015

Alton coach Eric Smith led the Redbirds to a 27-5 record, matching the school record for wins, and a Class 4A regional championship to earn 2015 Telegraph Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Alton coach Eric Smith led the Redbirds to a 27-5 record, matching the school record for wins, and a Class 4A regional championship to earn 2015 Telegraph Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Photo: Scott Kane / For The Telegraph

Photo: Scott Kane / For The Telegraph

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Alton coach Eric Smith led the Redbirds to a 27-5 record, matching the school record for wins, and a Class 4A regional championship to earn 2015 Telegraph Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Alton coach Eric Smith led the Redbirds to a 27-5 record, matching the school record for wins, and a Class 4A regional championship to earn 2015 Telegraph Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Photo: Scott Kane / For The Telegraph

PREP YEAR IN REVIEW: Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year Eric Smith of Alton

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GODFREY – The Sweet 16 appearance was the first for Alton Redbirds boys basketball since 2005.

Even moments after a loss to Normal ended the Redbirds’ season in the Pekin Class 4A Sectional championship game, the Redbirds were able to appreciate the journey.

“It was just a blessing to even have the opportunity to come this far and compete at this level,” Alton senior Carlos Anderson said.

Alton’s postseason run energized a fan base that backed the Redbirds in big numbers. Alton High students filled four school buses for the 300-mile round trip to Pekin. The end result was not what the Redbirds or the Redbirds Nest wanted, but there remained ample cause to celebrate the season in A-Town.

“It was an exciting time for our kids,” Alton coach Eric Smith said. “What sticks out with me is how the team came together. It was just a fun group of kids to be around. For the most part, they worked hard and did the things that we asked. I think they bought into what their roles were.”

The return on that investment was a 27-5 record that matched the school record for victories in a season set three times previously in 2005, ’06 and ’07. It earns Smith recognition as 2015 Telegraph Large-Schools Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Seven of the top eight players in Alton’s rotation were seniors. The Redbirds had two first team All-Southwestern Conference picks in Darrius Edwards and Bryan Hudson. But the willingness of seniors to play within their assigned role was a key in Alton’s balanced attack.

“A kid like Isaiah Thurmond,” Smith said of a senior starter who averaged 5.6 points a game. “If he was on a different team, he could have had completely different stats. But he really embraced, and embodied the role, I’m going to do this, this and this for our team to be successful.”

The 6-foot-4 Anderson, the team’s lone Division I recruit after signing with SIUE in November, also drew praise from his coach after picking up second-team All-SWC honors.

“Carlos made a lot of sacrifices to do certain things for us that would help us do what we felt would make us successful,” Smith said. “A lot of people were concerned, Carlos isn’t scoring 20 points a game. But if you looked at the stat sheet, most of the big games we played in, he had 10 points, 10, 11, 12 rebounds, six assists, four or five steals while concentrating on things we thought were important in those games. He was willing to sacrifice for us to be successful.”

In three seasons since coming to Alton as an assistant coach from Galesburg, Smith has guided the Redbirds to a 62-29 record that includes back-to-back 20-win seasons.

Alton reeled off a 10-game winning streak before falling to Normal. The Redbirds beat rival Edwardsville to win a regional title. Alton then beat Collinsville 67-58 in a sectional semifinal before a full house at Belleville East to earn the trip to Pekin.

Alton was the last Southwestern Conference team standing. But that still has not eased the sting of falling short of the Redbirds’ first SWC title since sharing the crown in 2007.

“No, it’s still kind of bitter,” Smith said with a laugh. “That’s the one thing we keep preaching – we want to be conference champions. There’s some prestige to that. That would be a huge accomplishment, I truly believe, to be able to say for a season, we were the best team in the Southwestern Conference.”

The Redbirds settled for second best in 2014-15. A fluke 3-pointer at the buzzer gave East St. Louis a 59-58 victory at Alton early in the season. The Flyers needed no dramatics in the rematch, winning 67-58 at East Side. Those two games decided the title.

East St. Louis would finish off a 14-0 run through the SWC, while Alton went 12-2 in the league. The Redbirds are 27-14 in SWC play under Smith and the title search resumes.

With junior Maurice Edwards, who averaged 8.4 points a game, the lone returning starter back next season, it is likely to be billed a rebuilding season for Alton. But Smith contends enough talent remains to compete in the SWC.

“We think so,” Smith said. “We’re going to be pretty undersized. But ever since I’ve been here, one thing we keep talking about is we have athletes. We’ve got kids that can get up and down the floor, run and jump and pressure people. The idea is that we’ll be able to continue to do those things. … We’ll give it a run.”

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack